Modality in Contemporary English

Roberta Facchinetti is Associate Professor at the University of Verona, Italy.Manfred Krug is Associate Professor at the University of Freiburg, Germany.Frank R. Palmer is Professor Emeritus at the University of Reading, UK.

"The book offers a stimulating read, with the papers in sections two and three in particular providing a great deal of thought-provoking material."Martin J. Endley in: Studies in Language 7/2007 "This volume is a valuable and representative collection of current approaches to modality in contemporary English. It rewards the reader with fundamental theoretical knowlegde of modal concepts, but also offers profound insight into a wide range of practical applications."Ilse Wischer in: Anglia 3/2006 "The volume is worthy of inclusion in any collection of writings on the topic of modality, particularly for those whose interests are concerned with (emerging) modal verbs."Alison Cort in: English Language and Linguistics 2/2004 "The volume is very helpful to faculty and students in linguistics and language teaching, and to anyone who is eager to know why and how speakers use modality to convey their attitude to the truth of proposition. Especially, many of the findings and claims deserve the attention of English teachers."Xinzhang Yang in: Word, Volume 57, Number 1 (April, 2006)

• PrefaceRoberta Facchinetti, Manfred Krug, Frank PalmerModality in English: theoretical, descriptive and typological issuesFrank Palmer The semantics and pragmatics of core modal verbsIrrealis, past time reference and modalityPaul LarreyaModal auxiliary constructions, TAM and interrogativesRichard MatthewsA pragmatic analysis of the epistemic would construction in EnglishGregory Ward, Betty J. Birner, Jeffrey P. KaplanTowards a contextual micro-analysis of the non-equivalence of might and couldStéphane Gresset The status of emerging modal itemsOn two distinct uses of go as a conjoined marker of evaluative modalityPhilippe BourdinHad better and might as well: on the margins of modality?Keith MitchellWhat you and I want: A functional approach to verb complementation of modal want toHeidi VerplaetseBetween epistemic modality and degree: the case of reallyCarita Paradis Stylistic variation and changeModality on the move: the English modal auxiliaries 1961-1992Geoffrey Leech